


In Which Negan Is A Hopeless Romantic

by negickapologist (neganstonguething)



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, just cuteness and banter, negan flirting, no major plot, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 22:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11171457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neganstonguething/pseuds/negickapologist
Summary: Negan likes Sasha and loves Rick. When Sasha turns him down, he comes to her for advice about Rick. Despite her sharp tongue, she actually has some key suggestions to make.





	In Which Negan Is A Hopeless Romantic

**Author's Note:**

> For ocegion on Tumblr! They requested Negan being rejected by Sasha and asking for advice about Rick. 
> 
> I toyed around with this a lot, and at first, I initially thought I didn't include enough. I tried to add some more romantic scenes, but none of them felt right in this work. So it turns out that this fic is just cute conversation and some comedic banter. I really hope you all enjoy it despite that! Thanks so much!

It’s debatable whether Negan’s brutal honesty is a gift or a curse. He’s a straightforward guy, and even though it seems like a good trait to have, it can also be something of a grave-digger for him. Negan has no intention of stopping with his bluntness either. At present, said bluntness is directed at two highly unattainable people—one Rick Grimes and one Sasha Williams.

Negan can have them both if he wants them enough, but he’s a proud advocate of consensual romance, and seeing as Rick is anything but interested in him and also very far away from the Sanctuary, while Sasha is here and very much present in his life, he has set his sights on her.

Sasha is everything Negan could ever hope to have in a partner. She’s bold and loyal (though more to her people back in Alexandria than the Sanctuary or Negan himself), cunning beautiful, and so, so clever. Negan admires her determination, and when she killed off the undead version of David, Negan was quick to give her her own room with all the amenities she could hope for.

Including his presence.

At first, it’s just to check up on her—to see how her new life at the Sanctuary is treating her. He’s mostly polite and highly flirtatious, but her responses are always concise and usually in words laced with sarcasm. She clearly doesn’t feel like she belongs here, and Negan gets it. She’s in the company of a man who killed people she cared about. But it’s time to move on.

A week in, Negan invites Sasha on a walk about the Sanctuary with him. She’s surprisingly compliant, and Negan is a man of his word. What he gives her is just that—a walk. And a little verbal attempt to convince her that she can make herself welcome here.

“Yeah, I get it.” He tells her as they tour the gravel outside of the Sanctuary. “This place isn’t all suburban fucking homes and white picket fences like your old dive, but believe-you-me, Sasha, you’ll soon discover that the Sanctuary has its own little brand of charm to it. You don’t see the rest of my people mucking around with their tails between their legs, do you?

Sasha looks him dead in the eyes, her expression cold. “Trust me, my tail is not between my legs.”

“It isn’t?” Negan grins widely. “Good! I hope it’s wagging in excitement about your new life here, then.” There’s a little intimidation ingrained into his words, but not because he wants Sasha to feel threatened into telling him she’s enjoying herself. If anything, he knows that he couldn’t scare her into anything even if he tried. His voice just holds that weight to it after years spent getting his people into line.

“Excitement?” Sasha scoffs. “You’ll have to excuse me for not being too thrilled. I just got out of a prison cell a few days ago.”

Negan whistles. “Je-hee-sus, Sash, I love your sharp tongue! But hey, I can fucking get behind that mentality. Keep in mind, sweetheart—”

“—Don’t call me that.”

He nods and shrugs. “Sorry. In any case, don’t forget the big fucking commotion you started up that landed you in that cell. And also that you’re not in there anymore. That’s my way of welcoming you here—I’m sure you’ll fit in perfectly soon enough.”

Sasha doesn’t look convinced. “What am I gonna do here, anyway?”

Negan ‘hmm’s to himself in thought. “To be perfectly fucking honest, I haven’t decided yet. I told you I may want your help running this place one day, but I’m not convinced _you_ want that.”

“Good observation.” Sasha smirks, and Negan honestly melts a little.

“You might one day.” He chuckles more under his breath than anything. “You work for Rick, so I know you’re a hard worker, but I’m not sure what exactly would be your niche here, y’know?”

“I don’t work for Rick anymore.” Sasha shrugs. Negan’s smart enough to have deduced that she says this to keep the Saviors out of Alexandria for her bold attack the other night. “He’s too busy being your playtoy.”

“I fucking wish.” Negan outright snorts.

“Are you serious?” Sasha cocks an eyebrow. “You’re really interested in him like that?”

“Oh, Sash…” Negan clicks his tongue. “The things I’d like to do to Rick…”

“You don’t have to elaborate.” Sasha says quickly, grimacing. Negan just raises his hands in surrender. “So if you’re all about Rick, why’re you trying so desperately to put the moves on me?”

“Do I look desperate?” Negan wonders aloud.

“Well,” Sasha smiles, a genuine one, “I guess the right word would be ‘persistent’.”

“Gotcha. Well, you know,” Negan quips back, “persistence is something you just have to have if you ever hope to get what you want.”

Sasha directs a very even, unimpressed stare at him. “And if what you want doesn’t want you?”

“Then tough titties for me.” Negan answers honestly. He can tell it catches Sasha off guard by the way she hesitates.

“You don’t rape.” She remembers.

“Exactly.” Shrugging his shoulders, Negan motions to the Sanctuary around him. “Believe it or not, I don’t force anyone around here to do anything. We work for points, just like you used to work for money before the world went to shit. Earn enough points and you can have damn near anything you want.”

Sasha then asks a question Negan is plenty used to answering. “What about your wives? Do they all want to be married to you?”

It’s honestly a big gray area, because Negan’s not stupid enough to think that all his wives are head over heels in love with him. It’s just a mix between their situations and whether or not they’d do a better job out their earning points or living it up married to Negan.

He appreciates the curious nature to her normally accusational tone, though. She seems to genuinely want to know at this point, which is kind of what Negan had taken her out on this walk for—to answer her questions, show her around, and make her feel a little more comfortable here.

That, and to flirt with her a little, too. Let’s face it, that’s just a part of Negan’s nature. Sasha’s probably well aware of that part, anyway.

“Of fucking course they do.” Negan says proudly. Whether or not his wives love him, they choose to marry him of their own volition. “They don’t have to marry me, but if I happen to be something they’re interested in, they don’t have to do _shit_ for points. Sounds pretty goddamn good, if you ask me.”

Sasha seems to be pondering those words for a moment, and seeing her look so thoughtful after the exchange makes Negan legitimately curious.

“…Don’t tell me you want to be—”

“Hell no.” Sasha snorts. “If you want the truth, I’m not interested in you. At all. As a wife or a girlfriend or a fuck buddy. Honestly, you’d have a better chance as a snowball in Hell before you’d have a chance with me. Or maybe just with Rick.”

Yet again, Negan whistles. “Fucking _harsh_. But point taken, Sasha.”

Negan decides that’s a good time to end their excursion and they part ways. It’s a shame, but sometimes, you can’t always get what you want. Negan knows he’s always going to have a thing for Sasha, but part of being interested in her is also keeping his distance when she wants him to.

So for now, he focuses on finding a good job for her. Simon suggests patrol or watch and points out that he knows she’s a good shot. Negan notes that, though he plans to wait on assigning her something that intensive until he knows she isn’t going to use it against him.

The night drawls on boringly enough, so Negan spices it up a little with a visit to his wives. After a little much-needed release, he sits around with all of them, television screening an old Beetlejuice VHS tape. These moments are nice, and the conversation that comes with them is important. Believe it or not, Negan enjoys his wives for far more than just sex or the status of them being married to him.

But even the girls can tell Negan’s mind is somewhere else. Negan appreciates their perception and their concern.

“What’s on your mind, baby?” Tanya asks, as she runs her fingers up along the skin of Negan’s right forearm.

“Hmm?” Negan laughs. “I look preoccupied?”

“Very.” Tanya responds. “Are you upset? Did something happen?”

“Not really.” Negan shakes his head. “I mean, I got rejected, but that’s no big fucking deal.”

“Is it?” Frankie joins Tanya in comforting their husband, her fingers massaging at his shoulders. “You’re usually laughing your ass off at this movie. C’mon, we’re your wives, you can talk to us.”

“You always know just what to say.” Negan smiles contentedly. “Dunno what I’d do without you girls.”

“Exactly.” Tanya matches his grin. “Now, spill.”

“Well,” Negan starts, “you guys know the girl. The one who caused all that mess the other night?”

“Sasha, right?” Frankie asks.

“Yep. And I like her a whole goddamn lot. But she’s not interested, so that’s fucking that.” Nothing more to say. Nothing he can do about it, really.

“She came from that Alexandria place, didn’t she?” Frankie continues. “They all apparently seem pretty defiant against what you’ve got going.”

“Yeah.” Negan sighs. “I know.”

“Have you spoken to their leader lately?”

Negan knows Frankie is probably just trying to divert the subject away from Sasha, but Rick is an even more sore topic for him to talk about than Sasha.

See, he’s attracted to Sasha, but he’s absolutely infatuated with Rick. Has been from the goddamn beginning. It started with Rick’s tenacity and sharp tongue, and then when Rick was forced to follow Negan’s rule, he quickly became impressed with how intuitive the man was. He followed orders and then some, and he did it all while making it clear that he wasn’t going to roll over forever.

Negan’s made countless hints toward his interest in Rick, and while the Alexandria leader has never given him a solid, verbal ‘no’, he has made it pretty clear that he still views Negan as his enemy. His feelings come out in his eyes, and Negan has long-since learned that the sharper his blue gaze is, the more fierce his emotions are.

“A few days ago.” He answers with another sigh. He feels Frankie’s apology in the way she resumes her shoulder massage.

“…And?” She asks despite the apology.

“He’s still the same guy he is every time I come see him.” Negan laughs dryly.

“No, I mean…” Negan knows what Frankie is getting at. She’s trying not to be too pushy, but also asking ‘if not Sasha, maybe Rick?’ without actually coming out and saying it.

“Nope.” Negan shakes his head. “Hell, maybe the guy just doesn’t bat for that team. If he gets limp dick around guys, I’m not gonna make him any harder just by being me.”

Frankie seems content to leave it at that, and it’s then that they all decide to call it a night. Tanya and Sherry kiss his cheek, while Frankie reassures, “They’ll come around eventually.”

For some reason, that embarrasses Negan. Here he is, pining after crushes like a goddamned schoolkid. He goes to bed with that same rampant embarrassment and all of the day’s conversations replaying in his mind like a skipping CD.

It’s just as he’s finally about to fall asleep that Sasha’s words from earlier echo in his head once more.

_“You’d have a better chance as a snowball in Hell before you’d have a chance with me. Or maybe just with Rick.”_

This sparks an unexpected burst of curiosity that snaps Negan’s focus right back to the present. Sasha may very well have been just using the crush she and everyone else knows he has on Rick for sarcasm, but is there also a chance she knows something Negan doesn’t? She’s seen more of Rick than Negan, so maybe she’s seen him act differently about him than when he’s present. Maybe Rick is just being the good Samaritan he is and putting off his own love life in favor of the more pressing matters between Alexandria and the Sanctuary.

Maybe he _does_ have a chance with Rick.

It’s a long shot, but Negan rolls with it. The next day, he’s back at Sasha’s door, Lucille perched over his shoulder and a proud smirk on his face.

Sasha rolls her eyes instantly. “Yeah.”

“So…Rick.” Negan starts.

“No, Sasha.” She retorts.

“No shit?” Negan mocks surprise. “All this fucking time, I’ve had your names switched around…”

“What do you want?” She asks, pushing Negan to get to the point.

“I already told you—Rick.”

“And _I_ already told _you_. I’m not him.” Sasha steps back, finally letting Negan into her room. Negan can feel her eyes following him as he moves to take a seat on the armchair inside.

“I know.” Negan shrugs. “But you know him. You can help me out.”

“You want me to help you sleep with my old leader.” Sasha quips incredulously.

“Precisely.” Negan points rewardingly at her. “Or at least, help me figure out how to talk to him without getting that goddamn stink eye from him.”

Sasha frowns. “You could try not being a self-indulgent ass from time to time.”

Sasha’s tone is forever impressive. She’s totally different from the girl Negan remembers outside of the RV. Negan isn’t sure it has to do with Abraham so much as the resolve this whole situation has generated within her, but goddamn, she’s bold.

“And by that, you mean…?” Negan asks.

“Ask him what he wants to do instead of parading around and making him do whatever you want him to.” Sasha answers simply. “Have some decency instead of trying to be the big boss man all the damned time.”

It’s a damn good thing Negan has such thick skin, because he’d be pissed by now if not. But Sasha immediately has a point. The only Negan Rick has ever seen has been the Negan who demands shit from him or comes by to inspect. Negan thinks he’s being friendly and fun, busting Rick’s balls a little in the process, but in reality, he’s holding Rick’s situation over his head. It’s hard to make time for building friendships or relationships or fucking anything when all you get time to do is find enough supplies to please the guy who has your balls in an iron vice.

But there’s a lot at stake if Negan lets up. Yeah, he’s the boss no matter fucking what, but he’s also in charge of a holy fuckton of people back at the Sanctuary. Las thing he needs is a goddamn revolt because he decided to let up on Alexandria a little.

So what’s a guy to do?

“Just pay him a visit for the sake of visiting.” Sasha continues, presumably because Negan hasn’t answered yet. “No inspection, no Saviors…go in and say hi and don’t make him feel like you’re just hanging around to keep him in check.”

“…Huh.” Negan frowns thoughtfully. “You may be onto something.” He flashes the girl one of his usual grins. “I think I can run with that. Thanks, Sash.”

“Anytime.” Sasha responds sarcastically. Just as Negan’s about to take his leave, she speaks up again. “By the way…”

Negan turns to regard her, one eyebrow cocked up.

“My job better _not_ be your personal counselor.”

\- - - - -

For the most part, Negan takes Sasha’s advice. He decides the very next day to pay Rick a totally innocent visit. His intention is simple: to spend some time with Rick Grimes. Some quality time with him, uninterrupted by shipments or Saviors or anything else. He knows better than to go into Alexandria without any backup, however, so he does have plenty of his men on standby. He likes to think Rick and his people won’t be stupid enough to kill him and sic the rest of the Sanctuary on themselves in the process, but he supposes one can never be too careful. For now, his Saviors hide in the shadows though.

Rick greets Negan at the gate, looking visibly irritated by his presence. “The week isn’t even half over.” He starts, and Negan shakes his head.

“Relax those balls of yours, Rick.” Negan says, smirking at the blue-eyed beauty in front of him as Rick pushes open the gate and lets him in. “I’m not here for business. This is all pleasure.”

“…What?” Rick’s anger fades right away, giving way to perplexity.

“I just wanted to visit.” Negan says. “Y’know, shoot the shit, have a good time. Be _friends_.”

“…You serious?” Rick’s confusion is now overwhelmed by incredulousness.

“Serious as the permanent scowl on pretty Rosita’s face.” Negan answers, laughing a bit at his own joke. “I like you, Rick. I want you to like _me._ ”

Rick pauses for several long seconds, and then frowns deeply. “…I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Right, because Negan had told Rick that certain looks or words could land him and his people in hot water. Negan had only been trying to get everyone on the same page, but he’d really been a dick in the process, hadn’t he?

In his defense, how else was he supposed to get them to obey? He’d been the enemy long before they’d met. Negan’s not totally horrible all the fucking time. He’d enacted that rule in hopes that once the harshness had lifted, they could all get along without him having to be an asshole.

But he gets it. Rick doesn’t think he can be upfront because he’s afraid of the consequences in the event that Negan doesn’t like whatever he has to say.

Damn…Negan actually feels kind of bad for that.

“Say whatever you want.” He concedes. Even if just for today. Rick has been flawlessly swallowing all his issues with Negan and getting shit done, so maybe he’s earned the right to speak his goddamned mind. “Lay it on me. I’m not your boss today. I’m just the neighbor who wants to hang out.”

Rick doesn’t look convinced. “ _Why?_ ”

Negan shrugs. “I told you, already. It’s because I like you.” When Rick cocks his head, Negan laughs and continues. “And I want you to see that I can be a pretty nice guy from time to time.”

“…Yeah, that’s a tough one to believe.” Rick deadpans. “You’re gonna have to prove that one to me.” Negan swears he catches a glimpse of a smirk on Rick’s face at those words.

But hey, challenge accepted.

\- - - - -

An hour and an awkward lunch later and Negan finds himself outside of Alexandria with Rick. He directs Negan to a stream, surrounded by hills and rocks. The sound of the water running is faint—just quiet enough for the two men to get the chance to talk things out.

It wasn’t Negan’s idea, either. While they ate and then sat on Rick’s porch, Rick had decided that if they could ever hope to make any ground on what Negan was trying to do here, they were going to have to sort a ton of things out. That he still wanted him dead, and convincing him otherwise was going to take a lot of work.

So here they are. Rick has taken a seat on a rock that sits close to the stream, his knees bent up and forearms resting atop them. He stares into the water and Negan takes in the sheer serenity that is Rick right now. The water and sunlight reflect in his eyes and light up his skin, making him look so soft that it’s almost like he’s glowing. His breathing is visible in the rise and fall of his shoulders, but the sound of it is muted by the pulsating of the stream.

Negan is mesmerized. Rick is truly a form of art.

“I’m not gonna make excuses, Rick.” Negan starts, even though he’s reluctant to break Rick out of his trance. “We’ve both killed people. Those were the battles, and I won the war. It was never personal, even when you took out an entire outpost of my men.”

“It was personal for me.” Rick shakes his head. “It still is. I’m never gonna see the people you killed again.”

Negan knows that feeling all too well. Even with the baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire to pay homage to Lucille, he still can’t see her ever again. Some days, he’s afraid he might forget what her face looks like if too much time passes.

“I know.” Negan raises his hands in surrender. “But don’t forget that you struck first. Do you really think I should have just shrugged that shit off and acted like those people never fucking existed?”

This is the first time Negan and Rick have had the chance to be open and honest with one another. It shows in the effect his words have on Rick. He looks pensive, and then turns his gaze back down to the water. “…Guess not.” He finally replies, scratching at the side of his head. “At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. Everyone is havin’ trouble providin’. Hilltop is strugglin’. They needed our help. Doesn’t mean it _was_ the right thing, I suppose.”

“That’s the thing, Rick.” Negan lets out a bitter laugh. “Right and wrong are all just fucking fantasies anymore. You just do whatever the hell you have to do to make it. For you, that was taking out my men. For me…well, you see what it was for me.”

A scowl forms on Rick’s face, and he shakes his head. “Doesn’t feel right, but it somehow makes sense too.”

Negan shrugs. “I get it. It’s easier not to think about it, though.”

“Is that why you are where you are right now?” Rick questions, and the genuine curiosity on his face catches Negan off guard. It sounds more like a sarcastic remark when you just hear the words, and maybe it is, but it’s also obvious that Rick just…really wants to know.

Negan takes some relief in that. “Maybe. To tell you the truth, I have no fucking clue. This is just how things ended up being for me. I’m sure as shit not complaining any.”

He watches as Rick chews on his lip. “So, how does us bein’ friends play out? Kind of sounds like we’re on different sides of the fence here to me.”

“Never stopped neighbors from getting along.” Negan retorts. “It’s just a matter of getting that horseshit mentality that you’re either good or evil out of your pretty little head, Rick.”

Rick doesn’t look convinced, but he appears to have reached an understanding of what Negan is trying to say. “That’s not gonna sit right with me until I can guarantee that my people aren’t gonna starve.” He adds. “Until you stop takin’ all you’re takin’, you’re in the wrong. Maybe not in your book but for damn sure in mine. If you’re gonna expect me to see it from your side, you’d better be ready to see mine.”

“True.” Negan likes this side of Rick. The one he had initially worked so hard to keep quiet. The side of Rick that quite honestly needs to come out. At this point, he’s earned the right to speak his mind, and he’s so incredibly calm and level about it that Negan’s glad he gave the guy the chance to.

So he resolves to try and hear Rick out more. He can’t yet promise that he’ll do away with the system he has between himself and the other communities, but he can say that maybe the strain, at least on Rick and his group, can be lightened somehow.

With Rick’s opinion calmly in the open, the conversation lightens significantly. It becomes just that—conversation, and even Rick, wary as he always is around Negan, relaxes considerably.

Negan manages to draw a genuine laugh from the Alexandria leader’s lips, and he swears his own heart melts at the goddamn sound. Rick’s laugh is low and gravelly and as full of heart as the smile that comes with it. His eyes twinkle when he does so, and he looks like a work of fucking art. Just like Lucille used to. Just like she still does in Negan’s mind.

It’s evening when Rick and Negan finally part, and when Rick actually willingly follows him to his truck and bids him goodbye, Negan knows he’s getting somewhere. He’s still got a long way to go, but he honestly feels like the door’s open now. He makes sure to promise another visit like this one, and when he calls it a date, he delights in how Rick stammers in response, before flashing him a smile and a wave and taking his leave.

He makes a mental note to tell Sasha she was actually onto something.


End file.
